Feminism, religion, equality among and between the sexes, the importance of family, conflicting concepts of good and evil, and the beneficent evolution of humankind are the major social issues Rice addresses in Queen of the Damned. Akasha, the queen of the damned, represents feminism carried to a radical extreme. She is committed to changing the role of all women.

Believing that the world's troubles have been caused by men, Akasha decides that ninety percent of the world's male population must be destroyed so that war, rape, and other violence can be ended forever. She contends that with women in power all over the earth, there would at last be universal peace.

Rice has said in an interview, "We can found a code of morality on ethics rather than outmoded religious concepts. We can base our sexual mores on ethics rather than on religious beliefs.